Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to communications networks and more particularly to supporting calendar event notifications across various platforms or devices.
Today it is very common, and probably the norm, for an individual to have and regularly use a number of communications devices of different types that communicate via a variety of different media. For example, an individual may, on a daily basis, use a number of different telephones such as a work line a home line, one or more cell phones, etc. Additionally, this same individual may have and use a number of other communications devices and/or media such as one or more email accounts, one or more instant message accounts, etc. that are accessible through any of a number of different devices such as personal computers various portable devices, and/or other network attached devices that communicate via the Internet or other network.
Some or even all of these devices may provide calendars with an ability to set calendar events. Furthermore, each device can provide a notification to the user when one of these calendar events has occurred. For example, a user may place in his calendar on his Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), cell phone, or other device a event indicating a meeting or appointment at a specified time and date. Furthermore, a notification can be given at or before this time to remind the user of the meeting or appointment. However, if the user is not in possession of that particular device, e.g., he left his cell phone at home, when the notification occurs, the notification will go unnoticed and the user may forget or miss the appointment.
Furthermore, managing these calendar events, especially between multiple devices, can be burdensome. While some systems provide for forwarding calendar event notifications to other devices, these systems are extremely limited in the types of devices that may be used. For example, such notifications are limited to cell phone with particular capabilities. Therefore, these systems are not easily extensible and cannot operate with other types of device. Currently, there is no way for a user of multiple end devices of different types to share or set calendar events that can be presented to all or some subset of all of these devices regardless of the type of end device. Hence, there is a need for methods and systems that allow for cross-platform calendar notification.